Babaco is a fast-growing herbaceous shrub with great commercial potential because of the organoleptic properties of its fruit. Babaco mosaic virus (BabMV) is a potexvirus in the family Alphaflexiviridae affecting babaco in all the provinces that produce this crop in Ecuador. BabMV was recently described but it has been affecting babaco for decades and, since many potexviruses are serologically indistinguishable, it may have been previously misidentified as papaya mosaic virus. Based on the coat protein (CP) gene, we aimed to study the distribution and epidemiological patterns of BabMV in babaco and chamburo over the years and to model its three-dimensional structure. Sequences of the CP were obtained from thirty-six isolates from plants collected in the main babaco-producing provinces of Ecuador between 2016 and 2021. The evolution rate of BabMV was estimated at 1.21 × 10−3 nucleotide substitutions site−1 year−1 and a time of origin of the most recent common ancestor around 1958.80. From molecular dynamics simulations, compared to other proteins of BabMV—RDRP, TGB1, and Alkb domain—the CP exhibited a higher flexibility with the C and N terminals as the most flexible regions. The reconstructed viral distribution provides dispersion patterns which have implications for control approaches of BabMV.

Abstract Background Pyrazoles have attracted particular attention due to the diverse biological activities associated with this heterocyclic system, and some have been shown to be cytotoxic to several human cell lines. Several drugs currently on the market have this heterocycle as the key structural motif, and some have been approved for the treatment of different types of cancer. Results 4,4ʹ-(Arylmethylene)bis(1H-pyrazol-5-ols) derivatives 3a–q were synthetized by a three components reaction of 3-methyl-1-phenyl-5-pyrazolone (1) with various benzaldehydes 2 catalyzed by sodium acetate at room temperature. The structures of all synthesized compounds were characterized by physicochemical properties and spectral means (IR and NMR) and were evaluated for their radical scavenging activity by DPPH assay and tested in vitro on colorectal RKO carcinoma cells in order to determine their cytotoxic properties. All 4,4ʹ-(arylmethylene)bis(1H-pyrazol-5-ols) derivatives 3a–q were synthetized in high to excellent yield, and pure products were isolated by simple filtration. All compounds have good radical scavenging activity, and half of them are more active than ascorbic acid used as standard. Conclusion Several derivatives proved to be cytotoxic in the RKO cell line. In particular, compound 3i proved to be a very potent scavenger with an IC50 of 6.2 ± 0.6 µM and exhibited an IC50 of 9.9 ± 1.1 μM against RKO cell. Autophagy proteins were activated as a survival mechanism, whereas the predominant pathway of death was p53-mediated apoptosis.